


Akaashi's only weakness

by amortentiando



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Best Friends, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28205508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amortentiando/pseuds/amortentiando
Summary: Akashi loved making lists. More than loved, that was actually how his mind naturally worked, how he organised his thoughts involuntarily, ever since he could remember. The only thing he never had to write down was his "Bokuto list".___________What almost nobody realised, though, was that Bokuto knew just as much about Akaashi Keiji as Akaashi knew about himself. And he had a secret: he also knew Akaashi’s weaknesses by memory. Well, it wasn’t hard, because although he tried very hard to find them, he only ever found one; justone.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 3
Kudos: 88





	Akaashi's only weakness

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hi
> 
> As usual, English isn't my first language and I'm trying very hard, so I'm sorry about the mistakes you may find among the  
> text and I hope you can still understand and enjoy your reading (expressions are always the worst part, grrr).  
> Please, if you feel like it, leave a comment. 
> 
> OBS: This story was based on a Tumblr writing prompt: "Can I kiss you?"

Akashi loved making lists. More than loved, that was actually how his mind naturally worked, how he organised his thoughts involuntarily, ever since he could remember. He always listed everything inside his mind and tried to deal with stuff one at a time, so his mind wouldn’t get all “messy”. When he started growing up and having responsibilities like school, he started getting confused with all the new information and forgetting things, so that’s when his mother suggested that he always carried a notebook to write down his lists, and he did, and never stopped doing it. It helped him remember stuff and establish priorities.  
The only thing Akashi never had to write down was his Bokuto list, because it was already in his mind. It was information he had to deal with every single day since he met Bokuto, so it eventually got stuck with him along with other primordial stuff, such as his schedule, or volleyball rules, and all. It was things he just didn’t forget that easily, and that’s what ended up making him the “Bokuto expert”, and it became like his thing on the team, his responsibility, although he wouldn’t call it that, because it wasn’t a “burden” or something to him, it was…  
It was an ok thing. Being the Bokuto expert, I mean. Yeah, it was ok.  
When he first met the mess of a human being that was Kotaro Bokuto, he just… Understood it, on a level. It seemed like an overstatement to say that they were similar to each other, because Bokuto was obviously stronger, and taller, and more skilled, and more outgoing, and just more likeable than him in general. He was also all over the place all the time while Akaashi was calm and thoughtful… But they both had a single, unique way of dealing with their own minds, and that, Akaashi could understand. He believed that was what made them bond, and trust each other so easily since the beginning.  
It was almost like they recognized each other’s _essence_ when they met. With time, it started getting easier and more and more obvious to Akaashi how Bokuto’s mind worked just by observing him, and with that he learned how to manipulate his weaknesses to change his way of thinking and to get him out of his head when he was giving himself a hard time. Kotaro might not rationally understand it, but he sensed it coming from Akaashi, how the boy understood him, and he found comfort in it, because most people just looked at him wondering “why is him like this” without even trying.  
So now, Akaashi knew all of Bokuto’s weaknesses. And he had them numbered. Literally. And he also knew how to deal with most of them.

Fukurodani would have a training game with another school next day, and they had some new moves they wanted to try, but the team was already training it for three days and just didn’t seem to get the hang of it, which was stressing Bokuto out.  
_Weakness #13:_ every time something didn’t go as planned, Bokuto would conclude it was his fault and that would make him _very_ irritated, which would make him anxious. And that takes us to _weakness #19…_  
“Which one is this one?”  
Akaashi was startled to see Konoha standing beside him in the locker room, in front of his own locker taking his backpack like the setter himself was doing.  
“Oh. Was I talking to myself again?”  
“Yeah. So, weakness number 19?”  
“Ah. That would be when Bokuto-san is anxious, what makes him get careless and sloppy with his moves... which could get him injured.”  
“You’re right.” Konoha nodded. “That’s exactly what he’s doing now, overtraining out there.” He pointed to the door of the locker room of the gym. Akaashi could actually hear the noises of the steps and the ball hitting the ground out there. “But well… He’s the captain, and he doesn’t seem to listen to anyone but you anyways.”  
They both closed their lockers doors and went to sit side by side on a bench to put their shoes on and go home. They were the ones left to clean the court after their late night training that day, and were both ready to go home while Bokuto was still training his serve.  
“It’s ok, I’ll talk him out of his mind and get him to go home and rest, otherwise we won’t be in good shape to win that game tomorrow.”  
“And it will only make it worse,” Konoha concluded, and Akaashi nodded. “Few things are worse than having to put up with Bokuto in a bad mood after losing a game.”  
_There are worse things_ , Akaashi thought, but didn’t say it out loud.  
“It really isn’t easy indeed.” He finished tying his laces and looked up to his teammate. “But it’s ok, you can go, I’ll talk to him.”  
“Sure, Akashi-san.” The boy got up and slung the backpack strap on his shoulder. He turned to look at Akaashi. “You know, I think it’s nice how you two work. It’s kinda cute even.”  
Akaashi was very confused by that choice of words. Cute?  
“Cute?”  
“Um, yes.” Konoha looked a little embarrassed, but continued: “Actually, I wanted to say on behalf of the whole team, that it’s ok. We support it. You’re good to him, which is good to the team.”  
The setter was now _really_ confused, and he just sat there, staring at his colleague that was very flushed, trying to understand what that meant, until Konoha bowed a little and then turned to leave.  
“Wait!” Akaashi quickly stood up and called when the boy was halfway to the door. “... What? What do you mean by that? Me and Bokuto… We- I mean, he- I’m… He’s- He’s my senpai and…”  
“Oh, it’s ok, Akaashi san.” Konoha turned back and got close to him again, hands up in the air trying to assure him. “I just wanted to make the team’s opinion clear to you but it’s ok, we can keep pretending like nothing happens and-”  
“But, but… nothing is happening! Konoha-san, me and Bokuto are just…” _Why the hell did the word ‘friend’ sound so weird in his mind all of a sudden?!_ “... Friends. And colleagues. That’s all there is.”  
In that moment Konoha seemed to realise he was actually being serious, and his expression became kind of disbelieved, almost amused.  
“Oh!” He opened his mouth but didn’t talk for a moment. Then turned his head to the side a little, frowning. “Really?”  
“Y-yes!” Akaashi’s voice was high pitched and sounded exasperated. “What made you think that?!”  
“Oh, just… You know. Um, you don’t _seem_ like just friends at all. Like.” Konoha stood, uncomfortable. “Um…”  
“Like?”  
“Like… Like everything, really” he scratched his head “like how he needs your approval to everything he does, and like you have all his personality traits numbered in your head, and like you’re always together although you’re not even in the same year…?”  
This time, it was Akaashi that went out of words to respond, while he suddenly realised that it really _seemed_ like something else to everybody outside their heads. Oh god… Was he dating Bokuto?!  
“Akaashi-san…” Konoha called, apparently realising the setter was really lost with that new realisation. “Did you really never notice that before?”  
“No…?”  
“Oh. Because I think even Bokuto already did.” He patted Akaashi’s shoulder and smiled softly to him “I mean, only you know him enough to say that but… You’re not just friends, and I think he knows it too.”  
With that, Konoha left the locker room and Akaashi was left with nothing but static in his head. 

Blank. He was blank. That information broke his brain, Akaashi couldn’t begin to process that, so he didn’t. Perhaps he would start a list later, and that would help. Various lists, actually: how this happened; which signs there were that this was true; how many people and who thought this about them... He could start by making a list of the lists he’d write.  
For starters, all he did was leave the locker room and go talk to Bokuto, that was still training.  
“Agaaaasheee!” He heard the so familiar tone calling, like no one else did, and for the first time (or was it?) his stomach tumbled inside his body when listening to it. Bokuto was lying on the floor dabbing the ball slightly above his face, but stopped in the middle of the action when he saw his friend and the ball fell to the ground and rolled to Akaashi’s feet. The setter took the volleyball and threw it to the big basket filled with other balls a few feet from them, before looking down to his friend laid on the ground.  
“Bokuto-san” He replied, voice calm as always. “What are you doing?”  
“Ya know… Just vibin’... Wondering why I’m such a failure…” He answered, voice tone filled with drama, while staring into the ceiling of the gym. He then looked up to Akaashi. “You shouldn’t toss for me tomorrow, Akashi”.  
“You’re not a failure, Bokuto-san” He said softly, and sat beside the other boy, putting his backpack aside. “You will get the hang of that fast move eventually, it’s something you never tried in all your years of volleyball, you can’t expect to learn it perfectly in three days.”  
“You always know what to say, Akashi. It’s annoying sometimes, when I just want to drown in self pity and you won’t let me.”  
“‘Cause I’m always right?”  
“Yeah” He pouted adorably.  
“Too bad. Are you ready to leave? It’s late and we have to rest for tomorrow’s match.”  
“I still wanted to try to improve my serve a little more but…”  
“Bokuto-san, come on, it’s late. We can have ice cream on our way home.”  
The boy’s face lit up like a child, and it made Akaashi smile a little.  
“Really?!” Before dinner?!”  
“I won’t tell if you don’t tell.”  
“Alright you won me now _Agashee_ , lets go!” Bokuto got up in a second and ran to get his backpack in the locker room. 

They bought two small pots of ice cream at a store near the subway station they always went to. It was late and they were some of the few people out there, making their way down the station while eating ice cream and chatting about anything at all.  
“Why do you think the sky is black, Akaashi?” Bokuto asked while looking up to the dark night sky.  
“Um… because of the absence of sunlight, I suppose?”  
“Yeah, but why black? Ya know? Why is all the empty space out there in the universe black? What makes the absence of matter be black, and not yellow or green or purple?”  
They walked side by side in silence for a moment, while Akaashi licked some ice cream off his finger and thought about it. He absolutely loved the random discussions only Bokuto’s mind could think of bringing up out of nowhere.  
“It is a good question, Bokuto-san. I’m sure there’s an intelligent answer to it, but I wouldn’t know what it is.”  
“Hah, at least _something_ you don’t know.”  
“What do you mean? There’s a lot I don’t know about.”  
“Yeah, but, you always have all the answers that matter to me.”  
Akaashi felt his cheeks heating up a little and looked at the taller boy.  
“Well, I’m sorry I can’t answer this one, then.”  
“It’s ok,” he looked back down to his ice cream smiling a little. “I bet Kuroo knows it anyways. Fucking nerd.”  
Akaashi laughed, and Bokuto looked at him.  
“You should ask him…” He started saying, but stopped when saw the other boy had stopped walking and turned to him with a grin on his face. “... what?”  
“You have some ice cream on your face, haha! Can I clean it?” He asked, already approaching. Akaashi felt his face blush even more, and thanked it was dark enough so Bokuto couldn’t see it. He nodded his head and felt the captain's big hand hold the whole side of his face, running his thumb over the corner of his mouth to clean up the ice cream. He then watched as Bokuto looked at his own thumb, licking it while starting moving in the direction of the subway station’s stairs. Akaashi forced his own legs to start moving again and followed.  
While walking a little behind down the stairs, he noticed Bokuto’s pace was a little uneven.  
“Bokuto-san, did you hurt your left leg while training today?”  
Bokuto stopped and waited for Akaashi to catch up, then looked at him.  
“See, when I say you know everything… How did you notice?!”  
“Just watching your pace, that's all.” He shrugged. “I can also see you were trying to hide it. Should've seen it sooner… Is it bad?”  
“You worry too much, _Agashee_ ” the taller boy put an arm around the other one’s shoulder, and pressed him tightly looking down at him. “My knee just got weak because of the tiredness. It happens all the time.”  
“And as the team’s captain, you know very well that this isn’t good at all for your body. You trained too hard tonight.”  
“I know… That ‘s why I stopped as soon as I felt it. That’s what I was going to say sooner.”  
“Sorry, I ended up interrupting you. Anyway, can I see it?”  
“Yeah, sure. Let’s sit here” He pointed to the first empty bench they found on the station, and they both threw the empty ice cream pots away before sitting there together. Bokuto dropped the backpack to the ground and rested his left leg on Akaashi’s free lap, watching the setter rub both hands together to heat them and then hold them near his knee. Bokuto laughed a little.  
“What?”  
“It’s cute, this thing you do. Why do you do it?”  
“I don’t actually know? It just feels like it helps in some way. Doesn’t it?” Akaashi looked up at him and Bokuto could only agree, while staring at the boy. He then asked: “Can I touch here?”  
“Sure, Akaashi-san” Bokuto smiled, he adored how caring his friend was. He watched as the setter’s cold little hands started feeling his knee delicately, before massaging it softly.

What almost nobody realised was that Bokuto knew just as much about Akaashi Keiji as Akaashi knew about himself. It might not seem like it, but the (generous) amount of time Akaashi spent thinking about Bokuto was corresponded by the team’s captain. The adoration, the concern about each other’s well being, the understanding among them, it was all very much mutual... and so was the _pining_. The only difference between them was that, surprisingly, Bokuto had realised how he felt about his friend way before Akaashi did.  
When he thought about it for the first time, Bokuto realised it wasn’t exactly something he did. There wasn’t only one reason. It was more about the whole collection of little things Akaashi did and was. It wasn’t _just_ about how he understood Bokuto like nobody else did or how good he made Bokuto feel, it wasn’t even only because of how safe Bokuto felt to be himself around Akaashi. It was also because of how unique Keiji was in his own way. How he listed things to organise his thoughts, and how he talked to himself without realising it, and how hardworking he was, and how calm he always managed to be even in the craziest circumstances. It was about how he knew all of Bokuto’s flaws and, instead of loathing them, he made them disappear.  
Bokuto had a secret: he also knew Akaashi’s weaknesses by memory. Well, it wasn’t hard, because although he tried very hard to find them, he only ever found one; just one, because that was how much he adored Akaashi, that was how much he looked up to him as a person.  
For months now, Kotaro waited for the right moment to make his feelings clear. At first he thought it wasn’t necessary; the way he felt about Akaashi was enough to make him happy, it didn’t matter if they would someday be lovers or just friends for the rest of their lives, as long as he had the boy by his side. Only, after a while, it became harder to ignore that he wanted Akaashi to know, because not knowing if he felt the same was the hardest part. Yes, it would still be enough just having him by his side as a friend, but what if… what if he did feel the same and they were wasting time? Bokuto was soon going to graduate high school, while Akaashi still had a whole year ahead before graduating himself.  
So what if all the times Bokuto wanted so badly to touch him, kiss him, or to just hold him, ask him to stay a little more by his side… What if Akaashi wanted it too? It was unbearable to think that it was all being wasted, so he needed to tell Akaashi the truth, he needed to be honest and give it a try…  
And in that moment, that silly, non special moment sitting on that bench waiting for the train like they did every night together, Bokuto just felt he couldn’t hold it any longer. He had to say it. The feeling was too great for him to hold in any longer.  
“Does it hurt?” Akaashi suddenly asked, looking up while still massaging his knee lightly. Bokuto shook his head in denial and stared at him. He took a moment to memorize all those details once more, before everything changed. The messy, dark hair; the tired eyes, that despite seeming bored most of the time were always watchful towards Bokuto; the full, long lashes and the thin lips and the soft cheeks...  
“Bokuto-san, if you want to tell me something you can feel free to do it.” Akaashi said it, not bothering to look up from his knee.  
“Why do you always ask me if you can do stuff?” Bokuto heard himself asking it without even thinking first. “Like… touching me and stuff like that.”  
“Huh? Ah…” Akaashi frowned, having his attention caught by the odd question. “just to make sure I’m not invading your space, Bokuto-san.”  
Bokuto shook his head.  
“You never are.”  
“It’s always good to be sure. I don’t want to bother you.”  
“You never do.”  
Akaashi stopped the massaging and stared back at him, trying to understand where all that was coming from.  
“Well…” He didn’t know exactly what to respond to that.  
_Akaashi weakness #1_ : Bokuto Kotaro.  
“There is something I want to tell you, but I think I prefer to show you.” Bokuto leaned closer, cupping Akaashi’s face with one of his big hands, which could almost hold his entire face. It made the shorter boy look at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly open, cheeks flushed. _He was so precious._ “Akaashi... can I kiss you?”

There was no verbal answer, because Keiji forgot how to speak. So after the initial shock passed, he just nodded. Bokuto’s leg slipped off of his lap when the taller boy got even closer and held his face with both his hands, pressing his soft, sweet lips to Akaashi’s for the very first time of many.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to see and/or suggest more prompts, you can find me on Twitter @rjiuppin or on Tiktok @khaleesilai.


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